As described in “Theory of Communication,” by Gabor, the concept of information is directly related to the concept of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. By change of a variable, the momentum and position of a particle are equivalently represented in terms of time (typically represented as amplitude) and frequency of an associated signal, which may be characterized as a unit of information. Typical measuring or detecting devices measure what can be either considered a time domain, or else a frequency domain signal, but not both.
In a variety of settings and applications, environmental conditions are detected by various types of sensors. For example, thermometers are used to detect ambient temperature, barometers are used to detect atmospheric pressure, altimeters are used to detect altitude of a plane, speedometers are used to detect a velocity of a vehicle, and the like. In general, a wide variety of sensors and detectors may be used to sense a wide variety of environmental conditions.
Digital sensors are often used to detect environmental conditions. Various known digital sensors include one or more processors that process received data that is output by one or more sensing elements. As can be appreciated, a time delay may exist between a first time when a digital sensor receives data from a sensing element, and a second time when the digital sensor generates a calculation regarding the environmental condition. Further, many digital sensors often include multiple processing components that add cost and complexity to the sensor assemblies. Also, sensors, whether digital or analog, may prove unreliable over time, such that they do not produce precise determinations of a particular environmental condition.
Accordingly, a need exists for an efficient, reliable, and precise system and method for detecting one or more environmental conditions.